Local Radio Jock doesn't know who Gavin DeGraw is?!?

[New Trail]

I started to post this in my thread about bands that keep up with current music but I decided to start a new thread about it.

 

Anyway...the local radio show that I listen to while getting ready for work had a news segment this AM about Gavin DeGraw getting beat up in NY. The 'other' DJ on the show stopped the news DJ and said something like "When you have a story about some singer getting beat up be sure it's someone we've heard of." Then they went on a bit about it and the first DJ said that he owned DeGraw's CD. The butt-in DJ didn't believe him. Thought he was joking! The first DJ was incredulous. Blah, blah, blah...anyway, someone in the radio business who had never even heard of Gavin DeGraw struck me as interesting somehow in a bad way. I mean, you don't even have to know any of his songs (I don't) but just be aware! C'mon, that's your BUSINESS!

 

Oh, and BTW I'd bet anything that those guys in my previous band that I talked about in that previous thread wouldn't have heard of him, either, which was my point! Someone who's had several hits and a DJ doesn't know him. Just.....not right IMO.

[mstreck]

I was having a conversation with a musician at a show this past weekend. He was pissed because he couldn't find competent musicians to work with, then referred to Pink Floyd as "American" music.

 

I just kept my poser mouth shut.

[kmart]

I don't know that it's any big deal AT ALL, espeically with how common it is for radio personalities to switch genres when they change stations (and sometimes switch them at the SAME station). I get your point about being 'generally' aware of music, but I think you assume/expect way more than is realistic given the volume of music out at any given moment.

 

Does the station you heard this guy on actually PLAY Gavin DeGraw? if not...meh.

 

Be objective:

Despite whatever bump of popularity he may have ridden in the recent past, Gavin DeGraw is nowhere near a household name at this point.

[New Trail]

 

... Gavin DeGraw is nowhere near a household name at this point.

 

 

Oh, I know, but those are average people who aren't associated with the music business. I had people at work ask me who Amy Winehouse was when it was reported that she died.

[jeff42]

if this dude was on a Top 40/ pop station he should be ashamed of himself for not knowing. If he was making a joke it was just stupid. Gavin Degraw is not a household name like Lady Gaga but if you are a DJ for a station that would play his stuff you should know who he is. It is part of your job to at least appear to have an interest in the music that your listeners think you decide to play. (in reality they have little to no control over what is being played... Just in case someone didn't know that. )

[niceguy]

I had no idea who Gavin DeGraw was, until he got beaten up---and I paid attention to that story because that stretch of the village is where my favorite restaurant and 2 of my favorite bars are located.

[kmart]

 

Oh, I know, but those are average people who aren't associated with the music business. .

 

You think radio jocks are associated with the music business?

 

There's your error.

[wardjames]

 

You think radio jocks are associated with the music business ? There's your error.

 

 

I get the impression radio jocks move from genre to genre and are just playing company playlists and spitting out little blurbs they're handed about each artist.

[kmart]

 

I get the impression radio jocks move from genre to genre and are just playing company playlists and spitting out little blurbs they're handed about each artist.

 

 

Absolutely right on the money.

 

I'm not THAT old, but old enough to have witnessed more than a couple familiar names from my earliest childhood memories go from one station to the next to the next...

With the way stations fold, re-brand, get absorbed by congloerates, etc., they're too busy looking out for their next paycheck to spend time familiarizing themselves with some artist that (most likely) won't be around by the next station move.

[n9ne]

I have no idea who Gavin McGraw is. Truth.

 

 

 

(Edit: okay, I looked the guy up. I've heard his stuff before....just never heard a name associated with it.)

[MusicalSchizo]

Assuming that the jocks don't care about the music is typical of people not in radio talking about radio (read: talking out of their asses). Of course, this guy may be an exception (assuming his station has ever played an almost-ran like Gavin DeGraw).

 

As someone who actually works in radio (and has for quite a while), I'll say that most of the people I know who are jocks on a particular station/format spend a LOT of time learning about the artists in that format. Mostly so they don't sound like complete assholes or say someone's name wrong. My wife's been on four or five different formats in her career and each change has meant a large pile of CDs (or iTunes downloads) as she familiarizes herself with the genre (if it wasn't something she already knew a bunch about). Same goes for me when I was briefly a jock and then when I was imaging director for an oldies station (my job now doesn't really require anything but knowing how to say their names right in commercials).

 

The truth is, most radio people do care. If we didn't, we would be unemployed. We just don't have freedom of choice anymore as to what gets played. Program directors don't really even program their stations' music anymore. There are rare exceptions, and everyone envies those PDs, but that's life in radio 2011.

 

I'm sure others' mileage may vary in radio, but this is my experience with even the most jaded radio people. You will be roundly mocked by your colleagues (and yelled at by your listeners) if you screw something up about an artist.

Brian V.

[jeff42]

to be in radio and to some extent TV (TV news mainly) you really have to love your profession. The pay aint that great and the annoyances are unbelievable some days!

[Consume]

Who?

Admittedly, I have never heard of Gavin DeGraw before this morning (and I still haven't HEARD him) but then again - I don't pay attention to popular music. As for the DJ, if he doesn't play that type of music in his show, why is it his business? Radio stations play what they are paid to play - DJ's of today aren't the DJ's of old thanks to "Programming".

[Consume]

 

I get the impression radio jocks move from genre to genre and are just playing company playlists and spitting out little blurbs they're handed about each artist.

 

 

Yep. One of my friends was a DJ and he quit - he said they play what they are told to play and are basically little more than machine operators.

It is like being a machinist - 20 years ago being a machinist was a highly-skilled trade, now it means a guy standing at the end of a computer operated machine that catches things as they come out of the machine.(according to a friend who is an old school machinist.)

[kmart]

 

Assuming that the jocks don't care about the music is typical of people not in radio talking about radio (read: talking out of their asses). Of course, this guy may be an exception (assuming his station has ever played an almost-ran like Gavin DeGraw).

 

 

I see. I didn't realize you were the ONLY person in this thread with any knowledge of the 'inside biz' of radio.

Thanks for letting me know that other knowledge & experience, and the fact that it aligns completely with what the OP described, equates to talking out of our asses. I guess I imagined working at stations in HS, college and beyond, and we can end the thread now.

[modulusman]

The guitarist in one of my bands is a DJ and has a 4 hour afternoon slot on a local station. He does his whole show in less than 30 minutes and isn't even at the station when it airs.

[tlbonehead]

no idea who he is.

[MusicalSchizo]

 

Thanks for letting me know that other knowledge & experience, and the fact that it aligns completely with what the OP described, equates to talking out of our asses. I guess I imagined working at stations in HS, college and beyond, and we can end the thread now.

 

 

But you ARE talking out of your ass if you've never worked in commercial radio (especially if it wasn't in the last 5 years or so), so at least admit that. High school and college radio are NOTHING like commercial radio. Not even remotely close. And this I can say from PERSONAL experience. (Don't know what your "beyond" was...you didn't specify.)

 

But we can go ahead and pretend I was just being arrogant instead of trying to share accurate information about radio, because I know you'd rather argue than discuss, kmart. It's your "thing".

 

Consume does sort of make a point about less technical skill being required to be a radio jock these days in some ways. The computer does most of the technical work of running the show, but you still have to be entertaining as a personality or you won't hang around long...but the truth is, years ago many radio performers didn't even run their own boards, so they were essentially doing the same thing they do today even back in the 1950s. What goes around, comes around.

 

These days, jocks are often required to have so much more computer knowledge/savvy than in the past that it almost wipes out the idea that no technical skill is required. Now they are supposed to be on social media, updating their web pages, and engaging with their communities at all times as a part of their job. It isn't usually just "come in, read liners, go home" shift work like it sometimes was before Twitter and Facebook. There are exceptions, of course, especially with guys who voice-track their shifts, like modulusman's friend...and different radio companies have different expectations.

 

So again, this is what I see as an observer of the radio industry from the inside. Please don't presume I see it as the only opinion, or that I think mine is "special" because of my years of experience in the industry, although I do think that most would agree that having current experience IN an industry tends to provide a more accurate opinion of said industry.

 

Brian V.

[New Trail]

 

.... Program directors don't really even program their stations' music anymore. There are rare exceptions, and everyone envies those PDs, but that's life in radio 2011.....

 

 

Why is it that way? I feel sure it's a money thing, but what do you gain when programming is outsourced? You really lose the personal touch with automated programming IMO. A local Contemporary Christian radio station became popular using DJ's and unique song selections, then all of a sudden all of the on-air personalities were gone, and along with them, the unique and interesting programming. I don't think the station exists anymore, or maybe it has changed formats. Either way, it's never been the same.

[MusicalSchizo]

 

Why is it that way? I feel sure it's a money thing, but what do you gain when programming is outsourced? You really lose the personal touch with automated programming IMO. A local Contemporary Christian radio station became popular using DJ's and unique song selections, then all of a sudden all of the on-air personalities were gone, and along with them, the unique and interesting programming. I don't think the station exists anymore, or maybe it has changed formats. Either way, it's never been the same.

 

 

It's more a control thing than a money thing, but there is definitely money involved if recent legal decisions on the payola issue are any indication. The local programmers have some leeway, generally, but the majority of the playlists come from regional format directors (at least in my company). And as for the reductions in on-air staff, well, that's the one thing everyone in and out of radio bitches about because the personality of radio has been disappearing very fast. And when the personality is gone, what's left? Not much you can't get from an iPod or Pandora...

 

As a fan of radio since I was little, it's sad to hear what it's become (in general), and it's even more frustrating to be a part of the system sometimes, because you can see the decisions being made that affect it negatively. But I will say that the people I know in radio do their best with what they've got.

 

Brian V.

[ckcondon]

It really is sad to see the state of radio these days. I used to love listening to DJ's talk about the music and artists like fans. They could introduce something new that wasn't handed down from corporate.

I hate morning "Shock jock" shows and really hate 10-15 song playlist rotations. For Gods sake, mix it up a little! There are MILLIONS of songs in any genre. Stop playing the same {censored} over and over!

Some stations get it right. I travel a lot and have found some pretty cool stations out there. Too bad my hometown options suck ass!

Brian, I know you know your {censored}, you've been at it a long time!

[BlueStrat]

 

It really is sad to see the state of radio these days. I used to love listening to DJ's talk about the music and artists like fans. They could introduce something new that wasn't handed down from corporate. I hate morning "Shock jock" shows and really hate 10-15 song playlist rotations. For Gods sake, mix it up a little! There are MILLIONS of songs in any genre. Stop playing the same {censored} over and over! Some stations get it right. I travel a lot and have found some pretty cool stations out there. Too bad my hometown options suck ass! Brian, I know you know your {censored}, you've been at it a long time!

 

 

That would all be great if radio was about playing music. It is not. It is and has been for quite some time about selling ad space and getting listeners to sit through ads. Hence the same worn out playlist. Lowest common denominator stuff rules the day. I don't think I've used my FM band on my truck radio for years. I'd rather listen to ESPN and find out what a douche Alex Rodriguez is this week than hear Sweet Home Alabama or Poker Face one more time.

[kmart]

 

But you ARE talking out of your ass if you've never worked in commercial radio (especially if it wasn't in the last 5 years or so), so at least admit that. High school and college radio are NOTHING like commercial radio. Not even remotely close. And this I can say from PERSONAL experience. (Don't know what your "beyond" was...you didn't specify.)

 

Assumption error:

I was IN high school and college when I first worked at radio stations. They were not high school-level stations, and only the first 2 were college stations. I agree that college radio is nothing like commercial radio. I can ALSO say this from personal experience.

 

 

In any case, at the end of the day, from your own posts, you're agreeing with the point that jocks at a particular commercial station may not know anything about the music they play (at least in some cases), so...

You're saying that I'm correct, at least in some instances.

[MusicalSchizo]

Assumption error: I was IN high school and college when I first worked at radio stations. They were not high school-level stations, and only the first 2 were college stations. I agree that college radio is nothing like commercial radio. I can ALSO say this from personal experience.

Two things: 1. You didn't imply that with what you wrote - and 2. When was this? I think you're about my age, so that was probably over a decade ago.

 

In any case, at the end of the day, from your own posts, you're agreeing with the point that jocks at a particular commercial station may not know anything about the music they play (at least in some cases), so... You're saying that I'm correct , at least in some instances.

 

Yup. I made that clear in my posts. But assuming that MOST in radio are like that is what I hear frequently from non-radio people, and it touched a nerve, because it's utterly untrue.

 

Good post, though.

Brian V.

[jeff42]

 

That would all be great if radio was about playing music. It is not. It is and has been for quite some time about selling ad space and getting listeners to sit through ads.

 

 

Yep. The perception you must get across to your listeners is that it IS about music but in actuality it is not. it's about ad revenue.

 

A college professor once said this to me and it's something I will always remember: A TV show is only on the air so people can see the commercials. Same is true with commercial radio. The songs are only on the air so people can hear the commercials.

 

At my job recently I had to explain this to a member of our news dept who wanted to remove some commercial time from the newscast to "fit" in more news. that doesn't fly with me if that space is already sold.